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Tuesday, 12 May 2015

This Week In 1985: May 12, 1985

Music can conjure up all sorts of memories and associations - a summer holiday, a first crush, a classic movie... But it takes a certain calibre of song to define an entire decade. This week in 1985, two songs made their debut on the ARIA singles chart that have become quintessential '80s tunes in the years since.

Not only were they both massive, inescapable hits, but their bold, stadium-ready sound perfectly sums up the decade where bigger was better. Listening to just the opening bars of either song instantly takes you back to a time of huge hair, OTT fashion and double cassette ghetto blasters (with high-speed dubbing).

Off The ChartNumber 100 "The Last Kiss" by David CassidyPeak: number 60If you think this sounds like a Cliff Richard track, then that's because it's a reworking of "Young Love", a track from Cliff's Wired For Sound album. Taken from David's only album during the '80s, "The Last Kiss" was a UK top 10 hit and features George Michael on backing vocals.

Number 96 "Radioactive" by The FirmPeak: number 96Not the same act as the one behind "Star Trekkin'", this The Firm was a rock supergroup comprised of members from Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and Uriah Heep - and "Radioactive" was their short and to-the-point debut single.

Number 93 "Treat Her Like A Lady" by The TemptationsPeak: number 82Last week, we saw Commodores bounce back with a song featuring a new lead singer, but fellow Motown legends The Temptations didn't have as much luck with theirs, despite it being quite a good tune.

Number 91 "Shine The Light" by VenetiansPeak: number 91A couple of under-the-radar Australian bands now - although Venetians would break through in a big way later in the year. For now, "Shine The Light" was another single that didn't quite connect.

Number 87 "Fool's Way" by GeishaPeak: number 53Next up, the debut single from Melbourne's Geisha, who put an Aussie twist on the New Romantic sound. "Fool's Way" really deserved to be a bigger hit, but fell agonisingly short of the top 50.

New EntriesNumber 50 "Say It Again" by SantanaPeak: number 39Who knew Santana ever went all synthpop? Well, I didn't - since I don't recall this single at all. But given it was only a minor hit here and in the US, it's not surprising it's faded into obscurity. The only single lifted from the Beyond Appearances album, "Say It Again" features the vocals of Greg Walker, who'd last recorded with Santana in the late '70s. Like everyone else in this line-up, he was brought on board by Carlos Santana after ditching the band that'd played on his last album.

Number 47 "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple MindsPeak: number 6Here's the first of our era-defining singles - and it's a song that Simple Minds almost didn't record. In fact, the band turned down the track, which had also been offered to Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol, more than once before finally relenting and transforming the demo they didn't think much of into the rousing barnstorming anthem beloved by millions. Featured on the soundtrack to classic '80s film The Breakfast Club, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" not only gave the Scottish band another hit in the UK and Australia, but it topped the US chart, taking their career to a whole new level.

Number 46 "R-O-C-K Rock" by Lin Buckfield / James ReynePeak: number 44On paper, this should have been a much bigger hit. He, of course, was the lead singer of Australian Crawl, who were still one of Australia's biggest rock bands at this point, coming off a number 2 chart placing for their best of album, Crawl File, that'd been released in time for Christmas 1984. She was the vocalist for up-and-coming local band Electric Pandas, whose debut single, "Big Girls" had been a top 20 hit a year earlier. But the song itself is just terrible, with both singers' tuneless screeching making Jimmy Barnes sound like Mariah Carey - especially on the monotonous chorus. A thoroughly deserved chart flop.

Number 44 "Rock And Roll Girls" by John FogertyPeak: number 26A couple of months ago, we saw the ARIA top 10 hit that I'd completely forgotten about ("The Old Man Down The Road") from the former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer. This was the follow-up - and my recollection of this song is even hazier. In fact, I'm not even 100 percent certain I'm remembering this single and not some other '70s-style American rock song since it sounds like so many others of that genre.

Number 35 "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For FearsPeak: number 2Our second classic '80s track was another number 1 in the US, where it was released ahead of "Shout" to launch Songs From The Big Chair. Whether or not it's because the video features Curt Smith (who took lead vocals on this single) driving across America in a convertible, I always think of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" as the ultimate road trip song - the musical equivalent of driving down the highway with the wind blowing through your hair. A year later, the song was re-released in the UK as "Everybody Wants To Run The World" in support of Sport Aid - and it once again hit the top 5 there.

Listen to this week's new entries on my Spotify playlist of all the top 50 hits from 1985:

Next week: another couple of era-defining tracks from a pair of duos - including the husband and wife act that achieved their biggest hit as singers although not as songwriters and producers.

4 comments:

Rage aired the David Cassidy track during retro month 2010, which is where I first heard it. It's a bit sappy, but I like it.

I'd never heard of Santana until his 1999 comeback. An online database of several promo video series reveals that there is a video for 'Say It Again', and a contact of mine has it. Perhaps it is one that is blocked worldwide (or at least in Australia)?

I remember Jim Kerr said that the video for 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was filmed on Xmas day '84. Who knew that video directors were working on that day? I can easily picture Billy Idol singing it, with a rockier backing track.

I'm surprised the Paul Young track peaked so low locally. It seems like it was a top 5 hit at least.

'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' does sound like a great road trip song. I'm surprised it was a top 5 hit second time around in the UK. Surely if you liked the track, you would have already bought it the first time, despite the subtle remix (or re-recording as it may be) and word/title change.

Filming a video on Xmas day? Could have been very interesting! Anyway, not much more to be said about Don't You Forget About Me and Everybody Wants To Rule The World - both year and decade defining hits. Only that I actually like 'Shot' and 'Head Over Heels' better than the latter song, which is still very, very good.

I remember the Venetians song 'Shine A Light'. Surprised it only got to #91 as it was on the radio a fair bit.

Never heard the Santana single, might be just as well, could have tainted his guitar god status. Just as well the 'Lin Buckfield/James Reyne' song doesn't spring to mind - and it sill got to #44?

Didn't notice the Geisha song either when it came out, but they'd rise to prominence late that year. My cousin was a massive fan of theirs, posters on the wall and everything.

I remember Santana's "Say it Again" well. It was on the playlist of 3XY Hot Hits 1422 Melbourne and it went to the Top 20 of their Melbourne based chart if I remember correctly. As a 12 year old just getting into pop I really liked it and owned the 12" single at one stage.